Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) Advocacy

A few days ago I became a proud member of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation's (JDRF) Advocacy program. Today, I sent out 100 e-mails to friends and family members asking them to join me in advocating to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. It is probably one of the most simple things anybody can do to show support. You don't have to be an active advocate. Your single voice speaks volumes, and perhaps, down the road, those that join now as in-active advocates will become some of the most active advocates.

This is just the beginning for me. I hope to connect with our local JDRF group, partake in walks, runs, rides, and the like to support finding a cure! Where is your local branch? Do you know? It's easy to find out, GO HERE, and then you can be directed to local events that support finding a cure. Please don't hesitate! It's free, unobtrusive, and may bring new life to those that have lived and who are living a wonderful life as best they can despite this horrible disease.

You want medical reform! Finding a cure, living healthier, happier lives, and supporting those who are battling diseases is the best kind of reform we can advocate for! Thanks for understanding, reading, and supporting in your own special way :)

Docu-Diabetic

I haven't seen many docu-dramas or theater that could be considered part of the documentary genre, and yet, I am suddenly drawn to explore the pros and cons of the art form. I watched a friend of mine create a docu-comedy about "Hair", when I was teaching at Westmont in Santa Barbara, CA. It was hilarious! He worked on a piece called "Fear" this past year, and I wasn't able to see it, but I hope it went well. At any rate, I had no other reference to documentaries beyond that and a few television series or movies until now. I am reading The Laramie Project by Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project, and I couldn't be more hooked!

I wonder if this kind of theater would have a successful impact on the local community of Amherst, MA. Beyond that, I wonder if a documentary theater piece on Diabetes would have an impact on the local community, the national community, or even the global community. I need a place to start, and I think I might be able to find that by locating my local JDRF chapter. I am already well on my way by connecting with other people with Type 1 Diabetes (I don't have it, but my wife does and I love her dearly). Each day I spend dreaming about this Arts Festival the more tangible and real it becomes. And although I have had many dreams fulfilled in my life, none of them have happened when I wanted nor in the way I had planned. This is another dream that is already spinning far from my dream, and yet fulfilling it far more powerfully and profoundly than I had originially imagined. I can't help but thank God for that blessing! I will finish reading The Laramie Project and begin to put the balls into play that are necessary for developing a documentary about the daily lives of people with Type 1 Diabetes. A project dedicated to my wife and her constant inspiring strength!

Raising Awareness for Type 1 Diabetes

I am blown away by the growing community of people on-line who have Type 1 Diabetes. A few weeks ago I decided to organize an Arts Festival designed to continue the conversation about being good stewards of our natural resources, while raising awareness and money to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. I wasn't sure where to begin my research for this festival...Do I begin by finding artists, collaborators, a clear definition of my goals, permission by my Graduate advisor to develop a festival, or somewhere else? I decided I would start with finding artists, but every time I start to search for artists I might be interested in bringing to the festival I find myself quickly drawn to connecting with people who are battling Type 1 Diabetes. I don't know why?!

Even though my wife has Type 1 Diabetes, I know she doesn't represent everyone. She has to deal with it every hour of every day, so she doesn't care too much for talking about it nor reading about it. She is a silent patient who continues her battle through prayer (something I believe is essential for finding a cure). I guess in a way that is why I am drawn to hearing other people's stories. I want to know if developing an Arts Festival to raise awareness and money to find a cure is something that the community of Type 1 Diabetics would support. I don't presume to be doing anything original, in fact, I am actually just trying to follow the lead of Bart Millard and others before him. I guess one question I have for you folks out there that are in the battle everyday, is this... Could you direct me to art events or artists who are actively creating art to raise awareness and money to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. Everywhere I look I see marathons, triathlons, walks, and rides, but not very many arts events. I'm an artist, that's what I do, that's what I'm good at, and so that is how I want to help.

I just had a thought...what if the Arts Festival isn't geared toward continuing the conversation about stewardship, but about Diabetes...! An exhibit of artists work who have Diabetes, a docu-drama/play devised from interviews of people with Diabetes, or panel discussion with people who have Diabetes, endocrinologists, and a representative from JDRF? Could it work...would it be successful...Let's do it!!!

Well, regardless of how this dream ends or grows, I am here to stay and here to support...Let's find a cure!

Our Type 1 Diabetes Story

I recently joined JDRF (Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) as an advocate for helping to find a cure. That simply means that I have committed to spreading the word about the work that they are doing at JDRF. If you are like me and didn't know the condition existed (until I met my wife), then spend some time clicking on the links I have provided to find out about the condition that has been deamed "The Silent Killer". It is a condition that affects more people around us than we care to imagine, as many with the condition often feel ashamed of what coping with it means for them. If you know about Diabetes, have Diabetes, or know a loved one or colleague that has Diabetes, then please join me and JDRF in helping to find a cure that can put this killer to rest. I am developing an Arts Festival for the Spring of 2011 that will seek to raise funds to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. If you would like to be a participant in organizing this festival, then please contact me...click here... Below you will find, my story about caring for a loved one who is coping with Type 1 Diabetes.



I'm 27...I didn't know diabetes existed! That is...until I met my wife. She was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes at age 18 after being hospitalized with mono. Her illness sent a shock-wave through her body rendering her pancreas incapable of producing the insulin she needs to survive. The sudden change in lifestyle was impossible to grapple with without a supportive network around her. When I met her 4 years ago, her average blood sugar levels produced an A1-C reading above 10. I began learning about the condition and helping my wife to strengthen her body to become less dependent on insulin, but it just isn't possible with the daily challenges a diabetic must face. Even something as simple as climbing a flight of stares, having an argument, or loss of sleep drastically changes her bodies interaction with these common daily events...something many of us without Diabetes take for granted. The innovations of today have made living with Diabetes bearable. We even have two beautiful young children, and yet her condition rages against her! With each year, her eyesight weakens, her insulin sites toughen, her nerve tissue numbs and tingles, she is easily exhausted, and as she continues to age all of her organs will begin to wilt and fade at a rate far faster than a person without Type 1 Diabetes.

My wife and I are at a place in our lives where this condition must not be allowed to survive! It can't be ignored or overlooked, and a cure for the condition must not be belabored by the advancements of devices to help monitor the distribution of insulin. These advancements are wonderful, amazing, and necessary, but they cannot take the place of finding a cure! My heart breaks every time I hear about another friend or family member's child being diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. But the mourning of my heart for people with Diabetes fuels a stronger desire to see this condition stopped and put to rest.

Thank you for this opportunity to share my story and my wife's story! It is a story not unlike millions of others that came before us, and not unlike the hundreds of others that will continue on after us. God bless the diligent work you have set out to do in finding a cure for Type 1 Diabetes!

Arts Festival for Type 1 Diabetes

Here is an e-mail I recently sent out to begin acquiring information about organizing an arts festival that will ultimately help raise funds to find a cure for Type 1 Diabetes...

Dear Loretta Yarlow, I am a 2nd year MFA Candidate for Lighting Design in the UMass, Department of Theater. I am beginning to develop a seed idea for organizing an arts festival. I want the festival to embrace not only theatrical art, but art from a wide variety of resources. In particular, I am wondering if you would be interested in discussing the possibility of creating an exhibit of a variety of professional artist's work that speaks to our current environmental atmosphere. My initial thoughts and hopes about using the University Gallery space are to install either a painter's exhibit or an installation artist's exhibit. I am beginning my research far in advance. If, after a few conversations, my idea is one that you might consider, then the exhibit would not be installed until April 2011. I am very excited about my plans for this arts festival and would appreciate any feedback and/or support you might be able to afford me. If my inquiry would be better directed toward another person or another of the Fine Arts Center galleries, then please feel free to contact me with your advice.

Sincerely, Jonathan Hicks

Here is her wonderful and exciting response! I appreciate her initial question, which has helped me to begin to harness my thoughts and focus for this arts festival!

Dear Jonathan, I'm not really sure what you mean by the "current environmental atmosphere". The University Gallery has organized exhibitions that activate the architecture of our exhibition spaces involving light projections and video projections with gel filters (example: spring 2007, "The Experience of Color: Ann Veronica Janssens and Diana Thater"). The most recent exhibition "Gravity" this past semester showcased 9 light projections on beds of salt by artist Miroslaw Balka. Did you happen to see it? Also, our permanent installation called "Scrim Piece" by LA artist Robert Irwin (it's installed in our north entrance) typifies light and atmosphere in current art practice. So maybe you can clarify your definition so that I have a better understanding of what you're proposing. Also, please let me know if you had a chance to see any of the artworks I mention above, and whether they fit the categories you're speaking of. Thanks, Loretta

My response back to her from this morning...!

Thank you Loretta for your wonderful response and great opening question! To be honest, I am still exploring what, specifically, I mean by the "current environmental atmosphere". As one can imagine that statement encompasses a far too broad range of topics. I will need to be more specific about that phrase in order to have a cohesive festival capable of having a strong and meaningful impact on our local and global community. When I think of our world's current state-of-being, I immediately think of the environment around us (cities, farmlands, forests, bodies of water, air, solar systems). So, when I think of our current environmental atmosphere, I think of websites like the following: Inhabitat (for its vast exploration and commentary on the invention and use of energy efficient products to conserve natural resources like oil, air, and water) Charity:Water (for its concern and care for our worlds water resources) Environmental Working Group (for its intuitive and detailed research on our worlds oil situation) Solar Power (for its ability to make tangible understanding how to harness the power of the sun) These sites, among others, inspire me to create works of art that create social commentary on our worlds current environmental atmosphere. I think of artists: Andy Goldsworthy Shai Zakai Jim Hamlyn Jason Ditmars Urs Jaeggi And many others...I have not seen any of the exhibitions you mentioned. Last year was my first year, and with a newborn baby during the first week of school, the rest of my year was plagued with catching up. The next two years, however, I plan on moving forward with bold and exciting work! The culmination of which, I hope will be this arts festival of installation artists, music, art exhibitions, and theatrical performances all focused around creating a conversation about our current environmental atmosphere. I would like to push my research for artists who would be interested in participating toward exhibiting art work related more closely with light as I am a lighting design student. The exhibitions you mentioned sound like they fit well with my dreams for this arts festival. Again, thank you so much for helping me to flesh out my seed idea with such a simple question as "what do you mean by...?". I hope I have been able to get closer to answering that question in this e-mail, and I look forward to further interaction with you! Sincerely, Jonathan Hicks

This is the beginning of what I hope will be a wonderful collaboration!

Type 1 Diabetes

I am getting ready to launch the first ever Havenworth Project! Havenworth exists to bring everyday people into contact with other everyday people. The average theater artist into contact with the average doctor, the average playwright into contact with the average construction worker (view our Mission Statement). Our first project will seek to create an artistically vibrant and eclectic theatre festival that stimulates social commentary on our evironmental atmosphere while raising funds to support research for curing Type 1 Diabetes (Juvenile).

Up until about four years ago, I didn't know Diabetes existed, that was until I met my now wife, Adrienne Hicks (I love you!). I began researching the chronic (lifelong) disease, and I have come to the conclusion that it ranks right up with some of the most horrifying diseases out there today. And, although Diabetes is controllable, the cost and final results of the disease are expensive and tragic as no cure exists. It is a disease, where in most cases, the child must live with the effects from early childhood through to their last breath at what one can only hope is as an elderly gentleman or lady.

This project is merely a dream and a seed idea, which I hope will see its final fruition near late Spring of 2011. It will take many hours of research, preparation, and constant interaction and involvement with many people from many backgrounds and stories. I hope you will become part of this tremendous endeavor, and that it will become an occasion worth remembering in the history of theatre, diabetes, and our global community.


This is my family...This project is dedicated to you Adrienne, and the other millions of children and adults challenged by this chronic disease! I love you!!!